Covid Testing, Digital covid vacc apps, Oh My!!!

[Alan]

By August in France folks won’t be able to get into a nightclub without a French health pass (app).

I heard that the day after this was announced 1m folks made vaccine appointments.

Rodi, I'm sure your son and his friend are going to have a great adventure, plus being so young AND fully vaccinated they won't have any Covid infections to worry about. It is great that you are helping out with all this Covid "paperwork" research you are doing, and we would be happy to do the same for either of our children in similar circumstances, regardless of age.

 

[audreyh1]

I heard that the day after this was announced 1m folks made vaccine appointments.

Yeah, amazing how that might happen!

 

[FIREd]

Starting August 1st, access to lots of places in France will require a French or European Health Pass. That includes bars, restaurants, trains, and shopping centers. This health pass can be in digital (app) or paper form.

Also note that the rules for coming into France from Spain and Portugal have just been tightened for people who are not vaccinated.

 

[Alan]

Also note that the rules for coming into France from Spain and Portugal have just been tightened for people who are not vaccinated.

The situation is so fluid that it is difficult to make plans with great confidence. Spain’s Belearic islands have just been put on the “amber list” in the UK. They were on the green list so that means many Brits on holiday now have to self isolate on return while others will have to cancel.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/jul/14/balearic-islands-added-to-covid-amber-list

Ministers have performed a U-turn on the Balearic Islands by removing the Spanish holiday destination from the UK’s quarantine-free “green list” after only two weeks, in a move which will force holidaymakers to cancel plans or self-isolate for up to 10 days upon return.

However, summer holidays to budget holiday destination Bulgaria looked more likely after it was upgraded to the green list alongside Hong Kong. Croatia and Taiwan will be placed on the green watchlist – designed to give people some notice a country might be downgraded.

The popular holiday destinations of Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca and Formentera as well as all the British Virgin Islands will be downgraded to the amber list in England from 4am on Monday 19 July.

 

[Breedlove]

Sadly , Portugal , Spain , Luxembourg and Cypress have turned Red. Also parts of Greece and Denmark . Netherlands has also turned red with Southern NL at the highest levels . Published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. There will be more added to the list. We are going to postpone our vacation .

 

[audreyh1]

Ugh! Here we go yet again!!!

 

[Chuckanut]

Sydney Australia is now in a tight lock down along with Melbourne. Apparently, only 12% of Australians are fully vaccinated.

I keep thinking how lucky we are in the USA to have had the smarts necesary to develop and produce a vaccine in record time, then to lock in plenty of vaccine doses in 2020, and then get them administered in 2021. Back in January it was chaos trying to get a shot. By early March I had both shots. By May, getting a shot was EZPZ. Amazing!

Corona virus is not going away. It needs to be managed. And the best way to do that is with the vaccine (unless one really really likes being locked down, limited visits with friends and family, no travel, no more big social events, etc. etc. etc.) Realistically, if the remaining Americans are not going to get the vaccine, it's time to release most of it to other countries. Often, best way to get people to want something is to take it away from them. "You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone." It might be worth a try.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, we were able to throw a lot of money at the problem unlike most countries, help fund the development and committed to large purchases early. We were lucky - the vaccines were quick to develop and the ones we backed turned out to be very effective.

But we are nowhere near out of the woods yet and still have the under 12 not yet eligible. That should change later this year.

I think some countries were able to keep out the virus so effectively that the urgency to get vaccinated was not high. But we keep seeing how the virus does eventually get in, Eve. If it’s been held off for a year. Unfortunately it’s the later more contagious ones that sneak in and sweep through an unexposed unvaccinated population.

But honestly, except for the US, vaccine availability has been low and inoculation slow, even in developed nations.

It’s tough!

 

[rodi]

Thanks for posting the info about France's new rules. It looks like the boys will be fine, since they are vaccinated and will be carrying their cdc vaccination cards.

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/france-announces-stricter-restrictions-against-non-vaccinated-travellers-from-uk-spain-portugal/

Even though the two countries are placed on France’s green list, unvaccinated persons travelling from Spain and Portugal will now be subject to stricter entry restrictions.

Consequently, unvaccinated persons travelling to France from one of the two countries will be obliged to present a negative COVID-19 test result not older than 24 hours. In contrast, fully vaccinated travellers will not be subject to any of the measures.

 

[rodi]

Looks like a couple more countries are tightening up travel.

https://www.traveloffpath.com/3-more-eu-countries-tighten-restrictions-on-travelers-over-delta-variant-concerns/

Germany - travelers from Spain (uh-oh) and the Netherlands are now restricted from entering... Unless they can show proof of vaccination. (ok... all's good.)

Greece - banning music in shops/cafes/clubs 24hrs/day. Curfews from 1am to 6am.

Barcelona (uh-oh) - no groups of 10 or more. Might ban eating/drinking in public. bars/restaurants closing at 12:30am


My son chose an interesting time to go to Europe. LOL

 

[brett]

We are hoping to get to Greece in Sept. Fly direct to Athens and back.

We have been watching the UK rules as we were looking at a flight via the UK but decided direct was the way to go.

IF we go we will book air about a week prior to our planned departure. Covid continues to change and we have little doubt that country entry rules will continue to change up to, and after our planned departure date.

 

[Breedlove]

We cancelled our trip ……….too much bad news on the COVID .

 

[rodi]

Update on my son's trip preps.


TLR version:
emed covid tests take much longer than they say - set aside at least 2 hours. Might take less - but 2 hours is close. All the other websites/forms were straight forward.

Longer version:
Registering with the spanish health service and getting the vaccine id QR code for travel was easy.

Doing the covid test with emed binax antigen tests.... not so great. Packaging and website said appointments last 20 minutes (telehealth observation of self administered test.) He tried yesterday - when he logged in it said 57 minute wait. He gave up after 1hr 10mins because there was a party with all his friends that had already started. He promised he'd do it when he got home because 'there wouldn't be as long a wait, late at night.'. He didn't. I woke him up at 8:30 this morning and the app/logon said 62 minute wait. That was pretty accurate. Telehealth person comes on but he couldn't hear her - so she puts him back in the queue. An hour later he gets another telehealth person. That person confirms his identity and instructs him how to do the test over video conference. Test has a 15 minute wait to read so the first guy starts the clock and he's back in a 15 minute queue. (They can monitor video this entire time to make sure you don't mess with the test. New person comes back on when the timer is up , confirms that it's the same qr coded test kit that he started with, and confirms the negative results.. The results are loaded to the Navica app and sent in an email from emed.com. Definitely set aside a LOT of time if you go this route. He has said he will spend all day, if necessary 2 days before he leaves Europe, and not give up.

Once he had the covid test done he did the UK paperwork. Filled out more paperwork for American Airlines and British Airlines. That was all straight forward. I had him print out all the qr codes just in case he kills his battery along the way.

While he was doing all this - I was just quietly folding his laundry so he could see what he had to pack. (I don't fold his laundry - or do his laundry... haven't for years, but he was getting overwhelmed and this was something I could take care of while he dealt with bureaucracies.)

He's packed and leaves tomorrow morning on his month long eurail adventure. It's so warming to know Spain (where he is flying to/from) has been upped to a level four travel advisory (US gov. saying 'don't go there') because of the delta variant spreading like wildfire. He assures me he will be masked up. The hostel they are staying in when he gets there has single rooms so he could, in theory, quarantine there, if he flunks the test when he's ready to return.

Fingers crossed he has a great time, doesn't get covid, and builds memories.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow!

I hope he has a great trip!

 

[Alan]

That is a lot of preparation.

I hope he has a great trip!

 

[gattara]

Keep us posted, am wishing him the best!

 

[rodi]

He was mocking me that I had printed out paper copies of all the paperwork. But turns out the ticketing agent insisted on it. (Win for old-school, belt and suspender, Mom!). She also was a mom who'd put her 18 year old son on a plane, alone, to Miami a few weeks ago... she offered a gate pass. I took it. (Hadn't planned on staying at the airport.) His flight was delayed an hour - but he's in the air. Gave us a chance to talk about what to do if he misses his next flight because of the delay. (Find a gate agent, ticketing agent and insist they find him another route to Barcelona - in other words - find someone in power and ask for help.)

Picture is of him heading off to adventures!

 

[pacergal]

Wishing safe travels for your son and a wonderful, memorable trip

 

[rodi]

All update. He's in his 4th country and hadn't had to do any paperwork other than showing his passport at the hostels. Spain to France to Switzerland to Munich. Next up (not sure of order) Prague, Vienna, Budapest. If they have time they want to go down to Croatia.

 

[Alan]

Excellent news, thanks for the update.

 

[Bamaman]

The rules are changing day by day on what is required to go into other countries. Spain should be easy to deal with as their whole economy is tourism based.

The airline will require a Covid test done within 3 days of departure, and they won't allow him on the plane without documentation. He'll be allowed into Heathrow for a flight transfer to other EU countries--like Spain.

Another Covid test will be required before returning home--whenever and from where that is. Again, the airline will be the ones to monitor the test documentation.

You can buy quick test kits in drug stores where you go on Facetime and have them witness you giving yourself the Covid test. I think they send you something online that you show that the test came back negative.

We're going to Berlin the last of September, and going to have the test done at a local lab the day before departure. Doc in a Boxes do the testing too. And all the big European airports have testing labs where you can go in an hour or two before your flights and be tested.

Those should be the only times testing will be required in the EU.

I too hit many countries in Europe 50 years ago, and we return very often. We have been to Barcelona a couple of times prior to Covid, and loved it. For the young Bohemians, I strongly suggest Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich and especially Budapest.

 

[Breedlove]

We did not go to the Netherlands last week but friends did . They say they show their vax card and it has been golden …they have had no problems at all . Guess I can’t believe everything in the news.

 

[rodi]

The rules are changing day by day on what is required to go into other countries. Spain should be easy to deal with as their whole economy is tourism based.

The airline will require a Covid test done within 3 days of departure, and they won't allow him on the plane without documentation. He'll be allowed into Heathrow for a flight transfer to other EU countries--like Spain.

Another Covid test will be required before returning home--whenever and from where that is. Again, the airline will be the ones to monitor the test documentation.

You can buy quick test kits in drug stores where you go on Facetime and have them witness you giving yourself the Covid test. I think they send you something online that you show that the test came back negative.

We're going to Berlin the last of September, and going to have the test done at a local lab the day before departure. Doc in a Boxes do the testing too. And all the big European airports have testing labs where you can go in an hour or two before your flights and be tested.

Those should be the only times testing will be required in the EU.

I too hit many countries in Europe 50 years ago, and we return very often. We have been to Barcelona a couple of times prior to Covid, and loved it. For the young Bohemians, I strongly suggest Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich and especially Budapest.

He already transited London and arrived in Spain. Since then he's been in France, Switzerland., and as of my-time this afternoon, he's in Munich. Only hurdle left is the return home. He has his emed abbott covid tests for his return in 2 weeks.

 

[tulak]

It sounds like he’s having a great time and seeing a lot of places. That’s awesome.

 

[rodi]

This is the best website I've found for detailing covid related travel restrictions/work arounds.

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/covid-19/

My bff is heading to Italy (Lake Como area) in 3 weeks. (Using tickets deferred from a trip cancelled last year.)

I'm also being extra diligent on monitoring the hoops/processes till son is safely seated on a plane back to the US. In the meantime he is enjoying the beers of Munich and the fact the drinking age is 18. Only thing keeping him in check is he's broke. He hopes beer is cheaper in Prague - where they are headed next.